'It’s going to kill our high street': Traders outraged at council’s plans to pedestrianise one of London’s oldest markets

5 July 2025, 10:52 | Updated: 5 July 2025, 10:58

Business owners have expressed their outrage over plans to pedestrianise Deptford High Street, with many saying the proposals will shut down their businesses ‘within weeks’.

The historic south-east London town of Deptford is home to London’s oldest train station, a bustling street market and a range of independent businesses, some of which have existed for centuries.

But the street, which in 1899 was described as the ‘Oxford Street of South-East London’, and in 2022 voted one of the coolest streets in the world, could be pedestrianised under plans by Lewisham council.

While the high street is already closed to motor traffic on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday to allow for street traders to set up their stalls for the popular food, clothes and antiques market, council proposals would see it closed seven days per week.

This has sparked a row between the council and the community, who claim the pedestrianisation proposals are part of wider plans to gentrify the area, and to replace the decades-old businesses on the high street with new ones.

Neville Johnny, owner of hardware shop Johnny’s DIY, said that the plans would see his business shut down ‘within weeks’.

He said: “I won't be able to get any goods, many of my customers won't be able to get to me. So it will basically close me down. Within weeks, I will be shut.

“And we've been here 50 years. We've survived many things, COVID, cost of living, and more, but this, you know, I can't do anything about goods and customers.”

“They seem determined to put [the plans] in place despite what we're telling them. Many others have said exactly the same as me. We need traffic, we need the road to be open to traffic,” he added.

“It’s cleansing. I can't see it being anything else, because if they're not listening to us, it means they don't want us there, and they've got a plan for when we do close up.”

Many of the business owners signed an open letter to Lewisham Mayor Brenda Dacres, saying they are ‘terrified’ of the plans, which “represent a serious threat to the character, culture, and economy of our area”.

At the core of the locals’ frustration is the consultation process carried out by the council. The consultation has been conducted with the help of a company named Project Centre.

Project Centre's parent company Marston Holdings also owns NSL, which supplies parking enforcement services on the high street.

This has led to confusion and frustration among the residents, who claim there is a lack of transparency.

"The company that is pushing through the consultation is the same company that put up the CCTV cameras and gets the revenue from that as well. It all stinks. It stinks," Johnny said.

The council says both of Marston Holdings' companies "operate separately to each other, and both have gone through strict procurement processes to deliver the individual contracts.

"Both organisations are responsible to and managed by council officers."

Terry Corne, who runs Terry’s DIY around the corner from Paul’s Wines, has been working on the High Street for over 50 years.

He attended a number of the in-person consultations between local businesses and residents and the council, which many of the traders are disappointed with.

“I went to a meeting but the council are not really interested because, as it goes, they don't think about us little traders. How are we going to get deliveries in? It’s hopeless.” he said, adding that “they weren’t taking notes, they weren’t listening to us.”

He believes the council wants to replace people like him, and gentrify the area.

“I get four deliveries per week, but if I don't get my deliveries I'll be shutting down in two or three months’ time. My family don't want me down here at night unloading my vans - I’ve got a home life as well,” Terry said.

“They want to replace the traders, they want to get rid of Deptford market. And I think they want to gentrify the area. They just want to sort out all the posh people. Not us workers that get up and make the High Street run every morning.”

Many traders say they didn’t find out about the consultation - which began in 2023 - until a few months ago.

Gagan Singh, who runs Paul’s Wines, an off-licence right in the middle of high street, told LBC: “It seems that they made a decision already. My family has been here over 35 years, my dad's been a market trader for 30 years.

“So we've been in the area for quite a long time. But this will kill our business.”

“When they first had the idea, they should have put things out there to each business and every resident in Deptford,” he said.

One part of the consultation process that people are taking issue with is the most recent online survey, which received 2,170 responses according to the council. But business owners are claiming the survey is misleading.

This stems from one of the questions - question 11 - which asks respondents during what hours they would like to see the High Street closed.

People can then choose one of three options: between 10am and 5pm, 10am until 6pm, or 11am until 7am. But all of the options would see the high street pedestrianised seven days per week.

Below the options, a note reads: “The set hours will be decided by the community as part of this survey. Once the survey is complete, we will review the results and will progress with the most popular option.”

Traders and business owners have hit out at the council over this question, claiming that the responses will be used to suggest that all respondents support daily pedestrianisation, without giving them the option to say they don’t.

Becca Fall, 22, is the organiser of a campaign to ‘Save Deptford High Street’. The campaign’s flyers can be seen hanging in numerous shop windows across the high street, and its Instagram page has amassed over 1,220 followers in just three months.

“I think in a way our campaign is doing the council’s job for them, which is that if they want there to be a public consultation, it has to reach the public,” Becca said.

“And it's just been a matter of communicating something from one very lofty level to the level of Deptford, and meeting people where they're at, because that's what the council have utterly refused to do, which is to meet people on their level.

“I think it highlights a wider issue with local democracy, which is that people who work in offices and on laptops all day, who have good incomes and don't necessarily shop locally, who live very isolated lives - compared to people in the community - are making decisions on behalf of us, and which are gonna affect us the most.”

Becca’s campaign sent an open letter to the council which “represents the collective cry of residents, traders, business owners, workers and community members who oppose the current plans to pedestrianise Deptford High Street.”

The letter was signed by over 400 people, 105 of which are market traders, shopkeepers, and shopworkers on the high street and the surrounding streets.

Meanwhile, Lewisham Council’s own consultation in 2023, which it claims “showed significant support for more pedestrianisation of Deptford High Street” only received responses from 12 market traders and 12 businesses.

But the council has defended the “robust” consultation process, which “gives the community a chance to have their say on our early stage design proposal.”

Cllr Louise Krupski, Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and Climate Action, said: “We received over 2,500 responses and are currently in the process of analysing the results. No decision has been made yet, and the results will guide how we progress with the project and we expect to report back to the public in the next few months.

“Since 2024, Council officers have been proactively working with Deptford businesses on a one-to-one basis, including a survey, multiple workshops, drop-in sessions, follow up site visits and meetings, so that we could hear their views on the early stage proposals.

“Lewisham has a proud history of celebrating and protecting our diverse communities. We work hard to bring people together and make sure no one is left behind in our community. This proposal is about improving the look, feel and functionality of the high street to make it better for everyone.”

LBC has reached out to Marston Holdings for comment.